SCOTTISH universities take fewer pupils from poorer backgrounds than institutions anywhere else in the UK and have the worst drop-out rates.

New figures show 27% of students at Scottish universities came from lower socio-economic classes in 2010/11, compared to 31% in England and Wales and 39% in Northern Ireland.

The institutions with the lowest participation from poorer backgrounds include the universities of St Andrews, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Glasgow School of Art.

The annual figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (Hesa) come at a critical time in the debate over widening access in Scotland.

The figures show a rise on the previous year of 1.4%, but there is concern progress is not being achieved quickly enough.

The Scottish Government recently announced plans to give universities binding targets on widening participation, with fines for those that fail.

However, universities argue the problem is largely not of their own making, with attainment among secondary school pupils from deprived areas markedly lower than their contemporaries from middle class areas.

The figures also show there has been a slight worsening of drop-out rates from Scots universities, with 9.4% of students leaving courses before the end of their first year – the highest figure in the UK – compared to 9.3% the previous year.

Universities with the highest drop-out rates include UHI (Highlands and Islands), West of Scotland, Glasgow Caledonian, Robert Gordon, in Aberdeen and Queen Margaret, in Edinburgh.

Universities Scotland, which represents university principals, said institutions had made greater progress on widening access in the last year than anywhere else in the UK.

Deputy director Simon Jennings said: "It's particularly encouraging universities in Scotland have shown a greater rate of improvement over the last 12 months than anywhere else in the UK and we will be striving to achieve more over the coming years.

"Widening access is a complex and long-term challenge, but there is a strong negative correlation between deprivation and attainment from the early years of a child's life.

"There's much that universities can do to play their part, including their existing engagement with primary and secondary schools, but the greatest progress will come from interventions in the early years of a child's life and before they start considering university."

NUS Scotland, which represents students, urged universities to open themselves up to people from all backgrounds.

Robin Parker, NUS Scotland president, said: "It's unacceptable for Scotland's universities to be worst in the whole of the UK for drop-out rates and getting people from the poorest background into university. We have made genuine progress compared with last year, but these figures continue to shame our universities.

"This is why the Scottish Government is right to be proposing legislation to improve our record in this area."

Gordon Watson, president of UCU Scotland, which represents lecturers, added: "We welcome the slight increase in students with the lowest family incomes attending university, but the fact remains that huge swathes of these young people are simply not considering university.

"We need to look at more initiative ways to get the lowest performing schools to send more students to our universities. It is also disappointing that Scotland has such a large drop-out rate.

"Financial difficulties are a factor for many students and do contribute to drop-out rates. However, universities also need to do more to help students continue with their studies."